Feed mechanism for printing apparatus.



F. C. DOLCATER.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9, 19 .4 1,200,414.

Patented Oct. 3,1916.

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F. C. DOLCATER.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED CCT.9. 1914.

Patented Oct. 3,1916.

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1 UNITED sTATEs PATENT onmon.

BATION OF TENNESSEE.

' FREDERICK C. DOLCATER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO MONTAGUE MAILING MACHINERY CO.,

OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, A CORPO- FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK 0. P01.- GATER, citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Mechanism for Printing A pparatus, of which the following is a SPGCIfication.

My invention concerns the feeding of sheets, forms, or other articles to the impression point where impressions are made by an impression head or pad, one purpose of the invention being to enable the operator to place a fresh sheet or form in position before the preceding sheet or form has been fed away from the impression point, the feeding of the said fresh sheet being then controlled automatically without further attention on the part of the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a feed mechanism having main and supplemental feeding members, the main feeding member feeding the sheet past the impression point step by-step and one step for each impression made thereon, and the supplemental feeding member operating after a certain number of impressions have been made on one sheet so as to feed the fresh sheet into engagement with the main feed member whereupon the latter proceeds with the step by step feeding action to feed this fresh sheet past the impression point step by step, the result being that although separate sheets are fed into and through the machine the impressions and feeding actions may take place with the same continuity or regularity just as though the sheets which receive the impression were in the form of a continuous strip, the automatic feeding of the fresh sheet beginning at an unvarying interval after the preceding sheet has been entirely fed through the'machine, and the impressions being made at regular lntervals and without arresting the operation of the machine.

The invention consists in the features of construction and arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the form or sheet feeding mechanism embodied in connection with a printing apparatus adapted to print from Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3,1916.

Application filed October 9, 1914. Serial No. 865,884.

individual record plates which are fed automatlcally along a runway to and past the lmpresslon point, the .said record plates, when in position at the impression point, malnng the 1mpression in cooperation with an mpression head, and preferably through an interposed mking ribbon; Fig. 2 is a plan new of the parts of such printing apparatus; Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in sect1on, looking from the right-of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail view of parts shown in Fig. 3: Fig. 5 shows one of the record plates.

In these drawings, 1 indicates a main table along which the individual record plates are fed step by step by any suitable feeding device indicated generally at 2, consisting of a reciprocating bar carrying pivoted'dogs 2' to engage and move the printing plates, the runway being indicated at 3 in Fig. 2. Over this runway an impression head 4: is located having an impression pad 5. The impression head may be variously operated, but in the particular construction shown it is reciprocated vertically from mechanism beneath the table 1 through rods 6, which rods are connected to a cross piece 7 connected with the impression bar 8 on which the impression head or heads 4 are mounted. -The sheets or forms are fed to the machine preferably by hand, being laid upon the table 1 against a gage 9.

10 indicates a eed wheel which is given an intermittent rotary movement in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, and when this feed wheel grasps the form or sheet between itself and a companion roll 11 the sheet will be fed rearwardly or to the right in Fig. 1 step by step, and at each step a fresh portion of the sheet will be presented above the record plate, and thereupon the descent of the impression head will cause the pad 5 to press the sheet downwardly upon the embossed letters or characters of the record plate with the inking ribbon interposed to thus make the impression on the under side of the said sheet or form. The feed wheel 10 is mounted on a shaft 12 journaled in suitable bearings in the end frames of the machine, and this shaft carries a gear wheel 13 meshing with a gear 14 within which a clutch disk 15 is arranged having pockets 16 for clutch rolls or balls 17 which bear on the interior of the gear, so that as shown in Fig. 3 when the clutch disk is rotated clockwise the clutch balls or rolls will rotate the gear 14 and this will rotate the feed wheel 10- in the arrow direction to feed the form or sheet the proper distance to bring a new surface of said sheet into position for receiving the impression, and this will continue step by step until the sheet is fed away to the'rear of the machine. The feed wheel may have this intermittent rotary movement imparted to it invarious ways, and the invention is not limited in this respect. So also the clutch disk may be operated in various ways, but in the particular construction shown this clutch disk is keyed to a sleeve 18 which has fixed thereon an arm 19, the forward end of which enters a recess 20 in a rod 21, a roller 22 on said rod and in the recess bearing on the under side of the said arm 19, as shown in Fig. 4. The rod 21 is connected with the reciprocating impression bar 8, it passing through a lug 23 on said bar and having at its upper end and swiveled thereto at 24 a sleeve 25 which engages by an internal screw thread at 26 with a sleeve 27 carried by the lug 23. As the impression bar 8 reciprocates vertically, the arm 19 will be oscillated, which will therefore oscillate the clutch disk 15, and thus the gear wheel 14 will be rotated intermittingly but always inone direction. By adjusting the screw threaded sleeve or nut 25 more or less movement will be imparted to the clutch disk 15 because of the change of relation between the rod 21 and the arm 19 due to this adjustment. When the impression bar with the impression head rises, the connections described will rotate the feed wheel one step in the arrow direction, and when the impression head descends there will be no movement of the feed wheel, the' clutch balls or rollers at this time seating themselves in the deeper portions of the pockets of the clutch disk.

The clutch mechanism just described is mounted on a rod 28 which is supported suitably in the frame of the machine.

I indicate at X a sheet or form which has been fed step by step past the impression point, and up to the position for receiving the last impression thereon, the trailing edge of the said sheet being substantially at the point y. Under prior practice where only the main feed wheel 10 has been employed it has been necessary to wait until the sheet X had received its last impression and had been fed to the right in Fig. 1 entirely through the feed wheels 10 and 11 before the fresh sheet indicated at Z could be placed in position to receive its first impression, and in the bite of the feed rolls 10,. 11. It may be. explained further that the impression bar with the impression head is controlled as to its times of operation by a foot lever which, when operated, would release the driving mechanism of the impresdriving at every sion bar and head so that they will perform one up and down stroke, and then the said mechanism will throw itself out of operatlon and remain so until the footlever is again operated, and it has been customary under prior practice for the operator. to wait, as above stated, until the first sheet X had been completely printed and discharged before the fresh sheet Z could be place in position and in the bite of the rolls 10-11, and only after this had been accomplished could the operator set the impression head in motion. In order to save this delay and thereby increase the production of the machine and also to reduce the attention necessary to be exercised on the part of the operator, I employ a secondary feed Wheel 10 journaled on a pin or screw 29 fixed in a lever 30 pivotally mounted on the shaft 12 and extending to the rear of said shaft and having on this rearward extension a stud or roller 31 controlled by a cam 32 having depressions 33 in its periphery adapted to receive the roller 31 under pressure of the spring 34 when the cam is turned to present one of these depressions to the roller 31 which, upon entering the depression under the pressure of said spring 34, will allow the lever 35) to move downwardly at its forward end and bring the secondary feed wheel 10 into feeding position, that is, in contact with the sheet or form Z which the operator has placed in the position shown in Fig. 1 overlying the idle roller 11, and overlying also the trailing portion of the preceding sheet or form X. The secondary feed wheel 10 is rotated in unison with the main feed wheel 10, it being geared thereto" by the gears 35 and 36 connected respectively to the feed wheels 10' and 10, these gears being connected through an intermediate gear 37 j ournaled on a pin carried by the lever 30. It will be seen from this that when feed wheel 10 is given a feeding movement the secondary feed wheel 10 will be operated simultaneously, and to a like extent or degree. The movement of the feed wheel 10, however, will not perform any feeding action until itislowered so as to grip the pa er sheet between itself and the pressure rolliar- 11, and the timing of this action is done by the depressions in the cam 32. This cam is mounted on'the rod 28 to rotate thereon, and it is given a step by step movement by a ratchet wheel 38 attached thereto, said ratchet being operated by the pawl 39 on an arm 40 pivotally mounted on the rod 28 and connected by a link 41 with the impression bar 8. There are ten teeth in the ratchet, and two depressions 33 in the cam, and thus it will be seen that movement of the impression bar the secondary feed roll 10 will be lowered into feeding position toengage the fresh sheet Z and grip the same between itself and the pressure roller 11. This lowering place as the impression bar is coming down,

but on this downward stroke of the impression bar the sheet or form must remain at rest, and this it does because the feedingrotation of the main feed wheel and consequently the secondary feed wheel takes place only on the upstroke of the impression bar and impression head. In other words. the secondary feed wheel is lowered ready to perform its feeding action when the impression head and bar move downwardly, and it is given its rotary one-step movement as the impression bar and head rise. In order to prevent retrograde movement of the cam 32 and ratchet 38, a detent 42 is employed. This detent is mounted upon the bracket or arm 43 which, in turn, is ,supportedby the shaft 12 and the rod 28, and this bracket arm serves as a support for one end of the spring 34.

In the use of the invention it will be understood that the record plates bearing the pressions may be of various kinds, but as an example we will suppose that each sheet is made up of five attached checks and upon each of these checks an impression is to be made, each impression requiring that a fresh record plate be fed into printing position and the form sheet being fed between impressions to bring the different checks or impression surfaces to the printing point. In the example shown in Fig. 1 the sheet X is about to receive its last impression, after which it must be fed away to the right and thus be discharged from the machine. Heretofore the operator could place the fresh sheet in the position shown at Z before the final impression and final feeding movement is performed on the first sheet X, but the operator could not enter the advance edge of the sheet Z into thev bite of the rolls 10, 11, until after the sheet X had been fed away, and this required careful attention on his part ,to first place the sheetZ in position, and Watch when the feed rolls 10, 11 came to rest. With my improvement the operator need only place the sheet Z in position to receive its impression, and no further manual operation on his part is necessary, nor does he have to watch for the proper moment to engage the advance edge of the sheet in the bite of the main feed rolls, because the secondary feed rolls 10', 11' take care of this. As above stated, while the impressions are made upon sheets which are fed into the machine one after the other, the capacity of the machine and its production is as great as though the sheets were in a continuous strip, no break occurring in the regular intermittent actions of the impression head and feeder means. Sheets are used instead of a contlnuous strip.

I claim 2-- 1. In combination in sheet feeding mechanism for printing apparatus, a main feeder for moving each sheet or form step by step in relation to the impression point to bring different parts of said form to the said point for receiving the impression, and a secondary feeder to feed the sheets to the main feeder, said feeders having a free space between them for the unobstructed superimposition of the new sheet over the trailing portion of the preceding sheet to perform a single feeding operation for a plurality of feeding actions of the main feeder, substantially as described.

2. In combination in sheet feeding mechamsm for printing apparatus, a main feeder for moving each sheet or form step by step in relation to the impression point to bring different parts of said form to the said point for receiving the impression, and a second ary feeder to-feed the sheets to the main feeder, said secondary feeder being normally out of operation while the main feeder is operating step by step and performing a ,movement to feed the sheets step by step in relation to the impression point, a secondary feed wheel in front of the main feed wheel and geared thereto to move in unison there with, and means for intermittingly raising and lowering the said secondary feed wheel to and from the point where the said feed wheel engages'the sheet or form, said secondary feed wheel being normally out of operation, substantially as described.

4. Incombination in sheet feeding means for printing apparatus, a main feed wheel for the sheets or forms, means for giving said feed wheel intermittent rotary movement to feed the sheet step by step in relation to the impression point, a secondary feed wheel to feed the sheet to the main feed' cluding timing mechanism, and a connection for operating said timing mechamsm from the impression member, substantially as described.

5. In combination in sheet feeding means for printing apparatus, a main feed wheel operating intermittingly to feed the sheets or forms in relatioh to the impression point and step by step, a secondary feed wheel to feed the sheets to the main feed wheel, a rocking arm turning about the axis of the main feed wheel, gearing between said main feed wheel and said secondary feed wheel carried by said rocking arm, and means for moving the secondary feed wheel to and from the point at which it engages the sheet to befed, said means including timing mechanism operating said rocking arm, and a connectlon for operating said timing mechanism in unison with the impression strokes, substantially as described.

6. In combination in sheet feeding means for printing apparatus, a main feed wheel for feeding the sheets or forms in relation to the impression point, connectionsfor operating the said main feed wheel intermittingly, said connections extending to a piart of the impression member and turning the feed wheel as said member rises, a secondary feed wheel to feed the sheets to the main feed wheel, said secondary feed wheel being movable to and from the point where it engages the sheet or form to be fed, and connections for moving and timing the movement of said secondary feed wheel to and from its point of engagement with the sheet, said connections being adapted to be operated from the impression member, substantially as described.

7 7. In sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having individual record plates with means for feeding them in line se'l'iat'hm to the impression point, the combination of a feed wheel located at a fixed point adjacent the pathway for the record plates and in rear of the same, and a secondary feed wheel located at a fixed point in front of the main feed wheel to feed the forms or sheets thereto and means for operating the feed wheels, substantially as described.

8. In combination in sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having individual record plates with a run-way along which said plates are fed in line and sem'atam to the impression point, the combination of a feed wheel located at a fixed point adjacent the run-way and in rear thereof to feed sheets or forms to be printed upon, and a secondary feed wheel arranged at a fixed point in front of the main feed wheel and in front of the said run-way to feed the sheets to the main feed wheels, and means for operating the feed wheels, substantially as described.

upon the 9. In sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having individual record plates and a run-way along which the plates are fed to the impression point, the combination of a feed wheel for sheets or forms arranged at a fixed point in rear of the run-way, a feed wheel arranged at a fixed point in front of the run-Way to feed sheets to the main feed wheel, and means for operating the feed wheels, said secondary feed wheel having movement toand from the point where it engages thesheet, and performing a feeding action after a plurality of impressions have been made, said main feed wheel performing a feeding action for each impression, substantially as described.

10. In sheet feeding means for printing I apparatus having atable provided with a run-way along which the plates are fed to the impression point, the combination of a main feed device for sheets or forms arranged at a fixed point in rear of the runway and a secondary feed device for the sheets arranged at a fixed pointin front of the main feed and in front of said run-way, said secondary feed device feeding the sheets to the main feed device, substantially as described. 1

' 11. In sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having individual record plates and a table provided with a run-way along which the plates are fed and in combination a main feed device for the sheets or forms arranged at a fixed point in rear of the runway and a secondary feed device for the sheets in front of the main feed and permanently arranged in front of said run-way, said secondary feed device feeding the sheets to the main feed device, each of said feed devices comprising a wheel above the table and a pressure roll below the table, said pressure rolls being located on opposite sides of the run-way, substantially as described.

12. In sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having a table with a straight run-way for printing plates together with means for feeding said plates along the runway to the impression point and an inking ribbon extending over the plates and above which the sheets to be printed are placed, the combination of a main feed wheel operating intermittently to feed the sheets after each impression, a secondary feed wheel to feed the sheets to the main feed wheel, the space between said feed wheels being free for the placing of one sheet onto the trailing edge of the preceding sheet and above said inking ribbon, substantially as described.

13. In sheet feeding means for printing apparatus having a table with a straight run-way for printing plates together with means for feeding said plates along the runway to the impression point, the combination of a main feed wheel for the sheets to be printed, a secondary feed wheel to feed the sheets to the main feed wheel, a support for the secondary feed wheel pivotally mounted, a cam for operating upon said support to move it to place the secondary feed wheel in and out of action, pawl and ratchet means for operating said cam step by step in accordance with the strokes of the impression head and means for rotating the secondary feed wheel, substantially as de- 10 scribed.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK C. DOLCATER.

Witnesses WALTER DONALDSON, BENNETT S. JONES. 

